Diane Arbus
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Identical twins, Roselle, N.J. 1967 -
Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C. 1962 -
A Jewish giant at home with his parents, in the Bronx, N.Y., 1970 -
Triplets in their bedroom, N.J. 1963 -
A young man in curlers at home on West 20th Street, N.Y.C. 1966
Diane Arbus (March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971) was an American photographer. Arbus's imagery helped to normalize marginalized groups and highlight the importance of proper representation of all people. She photographed a wide range of subjects including strippers, carnival performers, nudists, people with dwarfism, children, mothers, couples, elderly people, and middle-class families.
In 1972, a year after her suicide, Arbus became the first photographer to be included in the Venice Biennale where her photographs were "the overwhelming sensation of the American Pavilion" and "extremely powerful and very strange".
The first major retrospective of Arbus' work was held in 1972 at MoMA, organized by Szarkowski. The retrospective garnered the highest attendance of any exhibition in MoMA's history to date. Millions viewed traveling exhibitions of her work from 1972 to 1979. The book accompanying the exhibition, Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph, edited by Doon Arbus and Marvin Israel and first published in 1972 has never been out of print.
